Treemuggs

This butternut tree was fully live, with a severely compromised root system. The owners had no idea it was in bad shape. It fell over in a mild wind storm. Trees like this are the reason why site inspection is so critical before climbing and rigging in trees. Our only explanation for why the roots were so rotten was excessive moisture and high groundwater in the backyard. Check out the new video here: https://youtu.be/31M-6yOiPWY

1 month ago | [YT] | 54

Treemuggs

Blanket rules are for children. Ignore the man who says "always do it this way", or "never do it that way". This is laziness disguised as wisdom. In the same way, blanket solutions are equally misguided. Abandon rigid ideologies about getting tree work done. Be open and adaptable. Seek new solutions, new ideas for old problems. Don't just re-live the same year over and over, doing things the way you've always done them. Try new things, make mistakes, learn from them, get better, repeat. We are semi-trained professionals, the learning never ends. - Patrick

1 year ago | [YT] | 131

Treemuggs

Stay humble, tree man - you're not as good as you think you are 😎

Climb high, work smart, read more. - Patrick

1 year ago | [YT] | 154

Treemuggs

Count your blessings, name them one by one...

2 years ago | [YT] | 59

Treemuggs

Welcome to the future. Here's my top 9 books of the past year, in no particular order:

1. The Chrysalids - by John Wyndham
2. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - by Ken Kesey
3. Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology - by Neil Postman
4. Ready Player One - by Ernest Cline
5. Ender's Game - by Orson Scott Card
6. Stranger In A Strange Land - by Robert Heinlein
7. The White Pill: A Tale Of Good and Evil - by Michael Malice
8. The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed - by John Vaillant
9. Quit: The Power of Knowing When To Walk Away - by Annie Duke

Currently looking for book recommendations, if you grok. Hit me up in the comments.

Climb high, Work smart, Read more.
- Patrick

2 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 25

Treemuggs

All I want for Christmas is some good vectors...

- Patrick

2 years ago | [YT] | 32

Treemuggs

Look out world, here I come

3 years ago | [YT] | 140

Treemuggs

About the last video:

I had a calibration issue with the output load cell so it seems like all of the resultant pulls were 25-50 lbs overstated, hard to say. I do believe that the relative ratios for each setup are accurate in terms of efficiency. I'm going to redo them, but here's the results I got:

Trucker's Hitch construction:
Front Back Input Output Result
rope on rope carabiner 2.0 kN 3.9 kN 1.95:1
rope on rope pulley 1.85 kN 4.3 kN 2.32:1
carabiner carabiner 1.94 kN 3.9 kN 2.01:1
carabiner pulley 1.9 kN 4.45 kN 2.34:1
pulley carabiner 2.0 kN 5.15 kN 2.58:1
pulley pulley 1.84 kN 5.7 kN 3.09:1

The final setup testing at 3.09:1 is why I'm doubting the calibration, but hopefully they are all off by the same amount.

Maybe the most interesting takeaway for me in this test is how, as I added hardware and made the system more efficient, it became harder and harder to input that same 2 kN starting pull on the fiddle block. Efficiency in a hauling system is a two edged sword. On the one hand, a higher percentage of your input is amplified and transmitted through the system all the way to the output. On the other hand, as friction decreases, the system makes it easier for the load to "pull back" and oppose your input force. This is true even with progress capture built in, because the progress capture doesn't engage until the active pull lets up.

Without the 2nd load cell on the input, I would probably have just thought that I was fatigued from pulling so much on the fiddle block. But it was very clear that getting back to that starting input of 2 kN was getting more and more difficult as I went along. Very interesting...

- Patrick

3 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 35

Treemuggs

Climber Nation, we have 2 load cells, lots of ropes, pulleys, carabiners, hardware, climbing and rigging gear. We can test input forces and corresponding output forces. What should we test first?

Here's some ideas I have:
2:1, 3:1 Z-Rig, Trucker's Hitch all the different ways, 5:1 Fiddle Block, effect of angles, efficiency of pulleys, basal anchor forces, canopy anchor forces, and the list goes on and on and on.

But I want to hear from you guys. What should we start with? See you soon...

- Patrick

3 years ago | [YT] | 59

Treemuggs

The trucker's hitch is a simple, low-tech way of generating mechanical advantage on a rope. In its simplest form it produces a crude 3:1 pull using little or no gear, with the anchor end passing around a fixed point such as a hook or a carabiner. Rope-on-rope friction at the load-end cuts into the efficiency but also acts as a bit of progress capture.

On the opposite end of the complexity scale is the Z-Rig, the high-tech version of the same concept. Incorporating 2 pulleys and 2 prusik cords to provide adjustability and proper progress capture, the Z-Rig closely approaches a proper 3:1 pull.

You can think about the Trucker's Hitch and the Z-Rig as occupying opposite ends of a continuum, from simple and low-tech, to advanced and high-tech. In between these two are many hybrid setups, incorporating pulleys and prusik cords as needed.

The Trucker's Hitch, as a concept, is just a rope tied to a load, run back to an anchor point, then passed through a midline knot of some type, with the end then being pulled against the load. There are lots of options for midline knots. The slip knot/marlinspike hitch or alpine butterfly are popular, but I prefer two other versions for my trucker's hitch: the Dolly Knot, and the Harness Loop. The dolly knot is how I normally tie it, because you don't need access to the end of the rope, and it unties very easy even after a heavy load. If you want to add hardware into the loop to increase efficiency, such as a pulley or carabiner, then I use a Harness Loop, ABOK #1050.

Who still uses a good old-fashioned trucker's hitch at work?

- Patrick

3 years ago | [YT] | 65